


Isolation

by CorvidConundrum



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: AU, Action, Alternate Universe, Angst, Blood, Death, Different Worlds, Enthusiastic Consent, Eventual Sex, F/F, F/M, Fingering, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Gore, Isolated, Long, M/M, Multi Chapter, Multiple chapters, Other, Parallel Universes, Post-Canon, Reborn - Freeform, Reincarnation, Reincarnation AU, Sex, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, everyone dies, long story, memory loss?, universal collapse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2017-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-23 10:47:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 6,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6114130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CorvidConundrum/pseuds/CorvidConundrum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff"><p>a massive thank you is in order for my beta dollypopup <br/>ok for those who do not take warnings and tags seriously this is the obligatory notice that from this point there may be events that may unsettle you. this is a final call for those who want to jump ship and read a saner fic. <br/>i had initially intended for this to be a longer chapter but felt it would be better split from whats about to happen next. <br/>and finally if youre wondering when im going to put up some more smut well lets just say ive got a great one in the works.</p></blockquote>





	1. What was to be the end?

The evening’s breeze chilled the sweat that slid down his back as he looked around. The fight had been a long and arduous one that, though not long over, seemed to have happened years ago. Every event that had lead to this moment suddenly seemed so far away and small. The corner of his mouth twitched upwards momentarily as he watched the students, teachers, and even witches who had previously been enemies flit about amongst each other,dancing. Though there were a few that held a small wavering in their wavelengths, a minor amount of anxiety like a fading hangover from everything that had occurred, their souls all seemed to resonate with a degree of happiness.

 

Black*Star was gorging himself at the buffet table while Tsubaki admonished him with an easy smile. Maka sat on the stairs next to soul as he played fidgeting as she fought to look anywhere but her partner. Kidd, Liz, and Patti were making rounds through the crowd, attempting small talk with the various groups. Stein’s lab coat hung loosely off his shoulders, slipping some as he leaned back against a light post and looked up at the moon cutting a path through the sky, the sun hanging limply as if fighting the oncoming night.

 

It was hard to make out the moon through the inky blackness that had wound tight around it, constantly undulating in the gravitational pull of the moon and earth as it rose over the horizon. There was a thick feeling that filled his chest, coating his tongue in an acrid copper taste as he looked up at it. Unease and dread filled him; it seemed far too early to celebrate though he knew that everyone needed it after all they had been through. However, the nagging in the back of his head ran on a loop. There was no telling if Crona could keep the kishin imprisoned for long, or what repercussions there would be for sealing the kishin with Crona’s black blood. He wondered if the madness was beginning to pick at him again, if the paranoia was the herald of what he knew would eventually happen, or if he had merely grown to accustomed to constantly looking for the next thing that would collapse.

 

A light tap on his arm pulled him from his thoughts and he looked down with a smile. The wavelength that beat along his skin was like a miniature sun and he knew who it belonged to before his gaze shifted. Marie stared up at him with a wide grin, her eye sparkling in the lamp light. His heart swelled looking down at her, the one thing he didn't deserve. He was constantly realizing anew that she cared deeply for him, and it was a fact that still jarred him when they woke intertwined in the mornings.

 

“You gonna to just stand there staring at the sky with that scowl on your face or you gonna dance with me?” she asked. Stein gave a low chuckle and leaned down closer to her.

 

“Stein!” A husky voice cut in and he felt the smile slip from his face as he glanced over to Spirit. The redhead had a gleam in his eyes and a crumpled piece of paper in his hands. He slunk towards them slipping his hands into his pockets. “I'm conducting a small experiment, mind helping me out?”

 

Stein arched a brow, blinking at the question. “Oh?” he asked, somewhat surprised.

 

“Yeah, I'm taking a small census and I need your input. Are you more of a boobs or ass kind of man?” Spirit asked, giving a wolfish grin.

 

The question made Stein pause for a moment as he looked at Marie out of the corner of his eyes. If looks could kill, no doubt the glare she was giving his former partner would have been like a sun’s ray passing through a magnifying glass. He considered the question. On one hand, the breasts were soft and had many nerve endings that could be easily stimulated and on the other hand….

 

“Yeah,” Stein replied with a small smile still looking at Marie from his peripheral. Spirit made an exasperated sound before shaking his head and walking off, mumbling under his breath.

 

Marie looked up at him questioningly and Stein smiled wryly as his eyes glided over every inch of her, from top to bottom, then back up again. His smile widened when he saw a deep flush begin to paint her cheeks, her lips pursed. He leaned in close, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

 

“Zwei hände, und warum wählen?“ he murmured, leaning down so his lips could brush against hers. She made a small noise, her blush deepening, her shoulders tensing as her eye widened. He chuckled, pressing his lips against hers lightly. Her breath whispered along his face in a hot mist and he felt her smile against his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, her hands playing with his hair. There was a loud whoop and a few congratulatory whistles from some of the students and he pulled back, his breathing ragged, and placed a small kiss on her nose.

 

There was a small, quick sensation, like butterflies beneath his feet. He pulled back and looked down. “Did you feel that?” he asked.

 

“Feel what?” Marie asked, blinking.

 

The ambient noise of the party seemed to almost fade as he focused, and his shoulders tightened.

 

“Franken?” Marie asked, placing a hand lightly on his arm. The tension began to melt away after a few moments and his gaze rose to meet Marie's. He opened his mouth to offer an explanation but was cut short when the ground shuddered violently beneath them. His arm tightened around her and he looked towards the party. The music had stopped. Everyone was looking around, eyes wide. A few had fallen from the sudden tremor, there were even glasses that had fallen off of tables. The street lamp above him flickered. The taste of copper flooded his mouth and his gaze lifted to the sky.

 

His heart skipped a beat at the sight. He had seen eclipses dozens of times, but what was happening above their heads was not an eclipse. The moon was passing in front of the sun, tendrils of darkness spewed from the black mass that surrounded it before they wrapped around the sun in thick fingers.

 

He heard panic from some of the students as he began to take note of the foul cloud enveloping the sun. Another more violent shudder from the ground nearly forced him from his feet, causing him to throw one arm around the lamp post, pulling Marie closer to him with the other. It felt like hours before the volatile shaking came to a shuddering stop and Kidd's voice cut through the panic.

 

“I want everyone who wasn't a part of the moon battle indoors. Now! The rest of you meet me to the Death room.” His voice wavered nearly imperceptibly, but was firm.

Panic swept through the crowd; some immediately began to scatter and others insisted on staying to help. The ground gave another heaving shudder, nearly throwing them off their feet as they ran to the stairs, the lights flickering before dying out completely. Stein’s hair stood on end as he approached the steps, Marie's hand squeezing his tightly. A low rumbling made him stop and he looked up in time to see one of the spires jutting from the academy break loose and hurtle down. Dust and debris filled the air, thick and grating against his nose and lungs as his arms wrapped tight around Marie, pulling her to his chest as he turned from the falling spire. His ears rang, voices coming through muffled as if he were hearing them from beneath water. He glanced over his shoulder to look at the damage and his heart nearly stopped. If they had been any faster, a few feet farther to the stairs, they would've been caught beneath it.

***Chapter End***


	2. Remember Me ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a massive thank you is in order for my beta dollypopup   
> ok for those who do not take warnings and tags seriously this is the obligatory notice that from this point there may be events that may unsettle you. this is a final call for those who want to jump ship and read a saner fic.   
> i had initially intended for this to be a longer chapter but felt it would be better split from whats about to happen next.   
> and finally if youre wondering when im going to put up some more smut well lets just say ive got a great one in the works.

Steins relief quickly vanished as the dust debris in the air began to dissipate, the thick plumes of it lazily drifting away like a curtain for some obscene reveal. A shrill scream cut through the air, piercing the darkness of the night like a cold blade effortlessly slicing through skin. The world around him shifted down on him and he could feel the press of the universe around him. His chest seized at the sight of his former partner’s arm stretched out from beneath the shattered spire. 

Blood and thicker things had already begun to pool and trickle from beneath the rubble, sliding down the stairs, mixing with the dust and broken stones. He must have made some noise or some movement because Marie placed a hand on his chest and tried to look around him. He tightened his arms, holding her immobile as he turned to look back to her. Her eye widened at the obvious horror that was no doubt contorting his face. Stein swallowed convulsively, his mouth suddenly feeling thick as he shook his head as though to loosen the image that overlayed his vision and painted everything with a crimson hue. Tears had already begun to cut trails through the grime that had settled onto Maka’s face from the debris as she fought to reach her father.

Maka's sobs were thick and clawed at him with unseen hands. He fought to keep his eyes on Marie, to keep from seeing Maka’s partner holding her back as she fought to reach Spirit, refusing to accept what had happened. Stein squeezed his eyes shut, burying his face in the halo of Marie’s hair as he tried to steady the scrambling of his heart. It fought to rip free from the confines of his ribs and beat at his lungs. Every breath he took burned, his throat constricting until he was only able to grasp at small gasps of air. The world seemed to stop and hold its breath, allowing the scene to play out in some sort of absurd form of condolence,stretching the moment to make it last as long as possible.

\----------------------------------

Souls arms burned beneath Maka's dead weight, the bones and muscles threatening to turn to jello as he fought to keep her upright. His head spun and his throat constricted. It was harder to breath, to swallow the excess moisture that his mouth was suddenly producing. His mind kept flashing over the crimson image of-. No he wouldn’t, couldn’t think about it. Soul bit at the inside of his cheek until the metallic bitterness of blood coated his tongue in a warm wave. Maka's sobs had finally died to wet hiccups and hoarse whispers. The sound of it sent hot spears through his chest and he pulled her closer. He looked to Kid who was speaking in hushed tones with Free who bore a grim expression, nodding a few times before walking over to where the witches had gathered and were speaking amongst themselves.

Kid approached them with a tired expression. 

“A few of the witches have agreed to help.” He stopped, swallowing as he looked up to the sky. His expression hardened as his gaze lowered and locked on to Soul’s. “They'll help and prepare a small service while the rest of us prepare to return to the moon.” Kid turned and trudged over to Stein and Marie, his shoulders slumping the closer he got to the rubble. Soul took a deep breath and looked up. He mind refused to initially process what he was seeing, when it finally did it felt like the world fell out from beneath him. The sun was completely enveloped in black blood and tidally locked behind the moon by massive bridges of darkness. Soul ground his teeth together, the muscles in his jaw cording and bunching at the strain.

After Kidd managed to clear the crowd and convene a small council of people that would stay behind to look over the city. After Free had cleared the rubble enough to retrieve the former Death Scythe. After the witches had used spell after spell to make him presentable enough to hold a small ceremony, Stein still couldn't even so much as take a step near the coffin. 

He just watched as Marie consoled Maka, occasionally shooting glances back at him. He stood, leaned against the wall, the horror and sickness he had felt earlier shifting to a cold boredom. His mind went through the list of the total damage caused by the spire upon crushing Spirit. Assuming that he hadn’t been killed by the initial impact he would have most likely faced reperfusion syndrome and rhabdomyolysis. His kidneys would have been damaged in the impact and unlikely to process the change in the methemoglobin infarction, resulting from the destruction of muscles, leading to progressively acute renal failure because of acute tubular necrosis. The likelihood of surviving such injuries, even with the possibilities of amputations and transplants that would need to have been performed with minutes of pulling him from the rubble, the odds were next to zero. Stein went through the whole list of the damages and their effects on the human body through his head several times over as he watched the events play out before him.

Tsubaki and Marie took turns embracing Maka, each murmuring small quiet words through tight embraces. Soul patted her back and stroked her hair silently. Black Star made backhanded encouraging remarks and spoke about Spirit in an unusually quiet voice, his arms folded behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling as if uncertain what to do with his hands or where to look. All were coated in a thick layer of dust that clung to their skin and clothes. Stein reached into his lab coat, his fingers finding only lint and a spare pair of glasses. He frowned remembering that he had been trying to stop smoking and hadn't had a pack on him in almost a week. He sighed pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut.

Kidd stepped into the small room where they had gathered stopping just inside the doorway. It was quiet for the most part and he was reluctant to interrupt. There was a small tremor and the shuddering of window panes and then the world heaved beneath him and Kidd was forced to grab the door frame to stay afoot. 

Their time was up. No matter what, they had to do something about what was going on. There was no telling what sort of effects the sun and moon would have on the planet now that they were both drenched in black blood. Ready or not, they had to act now.


	3. Alone

The witches had all gathered into a massive circle surrounding the Academy students and teachers. Steins eyes slid over everyone present, most wore tired or angry expressions while a few had fearful ones. It was all understandable, after everything that had already happened people had the right to be angry, scared, worn out or in Maka's case heart broken. He tried to put himself in their shoes. Tired to shake off the numbness that had settled into his bones despite the fact that Marie's fingers were intertwined in his. He tried to be angry, or pissed off, or anything but the only thing he felt as the magic began to fill the air and tug at him was a cold numbness and a sharp pain in his chest.  
Spinning, whirling, tumbling through a space that was too bright and yet too dark for her to see at the same time. She rolled and landed in a heap when the magic dropped out from under her. Her lungs and mind refused to work properly and she lay there staring up at the small pinpricks of starlight through the thick tendrils of black blood. Her hands fumbled searching the air and ground around her as things shifted back into focus, her chest catching again as she turned her head. Her eye widened and she scrambled to her feet. The landscape around her was barren, not a single person in sight. It didn't even look like the same-.  
Marie felt a sob catch in her throat as she looked back up and her eye settled on the moon and earth. The witches had warned that with all the changes in the electromagnetic waves and whatever else the black blood was having an effect on from consuming the moon and sun there was no telling if they could even transport them, they had warned that some people may not even make it to the destination and that there may even be injuries. Marie's legs wobbled giving out from beneath her as two thoughts fought each other.  
Where was stein?  
Would he and the others be able to pull it off?  
It felt like hours that she sat there, staring up at the moon and earth. The mountains started to crumble and seas boiled. City lights died out with massive clouds of new lights blooming and dying in silence in brilliant golds and crimsons.   
___  
The ground beneath him heaved again and his eyes shot again. The pain sang through his body as blood and the thick rubbery spools of innards pooled onto the ground around him. The blood was hot as it seeped between his fingers and the folds of his sweater. The view of the blackened moon and sun was cracked and hazy from behind his broken and blood smeared glasses and he closed his eyes. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his eyes open. The pain was beginning to be replaced by a heavy cold feeling. It was like drifting off into a deep sleep with occasional sleep starts jolting him awake. Each time it was harder and harder to open his eyes. In the back of his mind he knew that his heart was skipping beats, slowing down. It felt like his bones were jelly, like every inch of his circulatory system was filled with cement. His mind barely registered the light that clawed at his eyelids, refused to process the debris and flames of the sun and moon filling the sky.

The last thing his mind processed before he fell through the darkness, before his heart finally fluttered to a stop, before the light in the sky finally died out was one singular word. 

Marie.


	4. Road map

The amber glare of the street lamps punched holes in the shadows along the road. The wind was cool caressing his face and whipping at his hair as he stood looking out over the city below him. The cold steel of the guard railing bit into his elbows where he leaned over. An odd tightness had had settled in his chest over the last few days. If felt as if he were spectating in his own life, going through the motions, everything he had known his whole life seemed so far off. He pinched the bridge of his nose sighing as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. His eyes scanned the horizon as he stuck it in his mouth and lit it with the green zippo. He took a deep drag off of it, the carcinogenic smoke blazing a path down his throat and through his bronchial tubes. Everything around him was exactly as it had been his whole life but it was wrong and he couldn't quiet place exactly what it was. A fact that only served to irritate him even more. When he spoke with his long time friend about it he had been laughed and told it was nothing more than a lack of sleep or the fact he had yet to be laid. Stein frowned at the memory. He was nearly always taken seriously, even when he was quite obviously playing a prank, so the fact he had been laugh at over something that was actually troubling him. Well it troubled him more. 

There were things like that, small things really, that he had began to notice in nearly every moment of his life. He woke up most mornings reaching for a person next to him that was never there, the sudden realization of it making his chest clench even if he never knew who it was he was looking for. He had suddenly started making more food than he would eat in a setting, as if expecting another to join him. He had countless tupperware containers in the freezer because of this, and had even for some unknown reason stopped smoking in his own home without even noticing this. 

Perhaps it was merely sleep deprivation. Between surgeries, writing a paper for a medical journal that had asked for his expertise and lecturing at the local university he had been working nearly round the clock these last few weeks. Stein sighed, exhaling the last of the cigarette as he flicked it over the ledge and turned to face his car that he had parked in the small rest area directly across from where he was standing.

His breath caught in his throat as his eyes fell on the small woman that stood looking somewhat dazed beneath the street lamp on the other side of the road. Dead center between the rumble strip and the center line. Horror filled him when he noticed there was a large amount of blood that stained the front of her cloths. Instantly his mind flipped to doctor mode and he broke into a sprint toward her. 

He really should have looked first. His mother had always gotten onto him for not looking before he crossed the streets. He didn't even have time to curse himself before he hit the pavement and the darkness swallowed his mind. He barely had time to register the immense pain that suddenly radiated from his hip and chest causing his vision to shudder, darkness swelling to devour what little light there was in the night.

 

He hung in pure nothingness. Hell blackness couldn't even begin to describe it. It was just nothing. No sensations, no light, no heat or cold, no sight. There was no way to accurately describe it, no words were accurate. Yet he was strangely comfortable with this. His movements felt sluggish as he tried to move about, feeling like it took a century for him to merely mover one finger. He knew it should've bothered him or even piqued his curiosity yet it didn't. He didn't feel anything. As he looked around the nothingness he saw that it wasn't entirely empty as he had initially thought. There were streams of light that ebbed and flowed between large wells of brilliant colors. A few collapsed as he watched only to be replaced by new ones. He watched for eons, or so it felt, taking in as much as he could despite having no way to comprehend or properly describe what he was observing. 

Suddenly his chest was on fire, his lungs and mouth not cooperating. His eyes were heavy, almost refusing to open. His hand groped at the breathing tube that had no doubt been placed when he arrived. An angry machine shrieked beside him at his sudden increase in heart rate, he winced and nearly vomited when he pulled the tube from his throat as it scraped against his esophagus and uvula. He coughed violently, unable to speak and barely able to do more than gulp at the air when the nurses burst in the door their hands flitting about him, trying to get him to lay back. The splash of ice in his veins spread like fire beneath his skin and he felt his mind slip into a fog before the darkness returned.


	5. venting

The air around her shuddered in the heat that rose from the vents. Steam drifted lazily up from them, illuminated by the magma far below. She blinked a few times in confusion looking around the crossroads. There for a moment it felt as if she'd been in a completely different place. She could have sworn she saw a tall figure rushing towards her in a panic. One of the vents hissed and she shook her head trying to dislodge the thought. She may have a poor sense of direction but there was no way what she had seen was real, more likely it was the product of stress and lack of sleep. Things had been hectic since the peace talks with the northerners had begun. Their king, Asura, was a weasel of a man. If he could even be called a man. He was a coward, but he was a coward who lead the country that they had been at war with for hundreds of years and was offering an end to the blood shed. She didn't particularly relish the idea of an alliance with him but if it mean that children could walk the streets safely, if it meant an end to families being torn apart, she'd take it. 

The palace had been quiet in the wake of her lieutenants deaths. Losing both Joe and Kami was hard enough but seeing the little girl that Kami had left behind sobbing at her wake had made it nearly impossible to breath. Something that had only intensified when she turned to look for some one. A person that wasn't there, some one that she was certain that she had never even met. Yet she still looked for him.

It was the first thing she did when she woke up in the morning, roll over and reach for some one that was never there. When things got rough she turned, expecting to find some one right next to her. She set out a plate and silverware for them when it was just her. There were even times late at night when she would wake and wander the halls of her home looking for who ever it was. As if they had merely stayed up late instead of never existing in the first place. The thought of it made her chest tight and the image of the frantic man flashed through her mind again. It had been like that for as long as she could remember. She had always been independent, willing to help others and rarely if ever asked for help. Her people, the citizens of Cauldera called her the pulverizer. claimed she could level mountains with one hand. That was who they needed. Not some bleary eyed girl looking for a lover. Now more than ever they needed the former kings right hand. So that's what she was. Heavens knew that The former kings left hand man, and lover, was still too wrecked both physically and emotionally to step up. It had been almost two whole months since he had taken a sword to the gut and 'the red headed womanizer' as most called him was still laying up in bed. With a heavy sigh she squared her shoulders and shook her head as she walked along the pathway. A event next to her hissed and she felt the aura of the steam kiss along her skin on a hot mist that cooled quickly in its wake. She shook off the goose flesh that pressed at her arms and kept her eyes forwards. There was much that needed to be done before the next talk and not nearly enough time.


	6. Reasons

She felt every ones eyes move to the door the second she pushed it open. The voices all died simultaneously, the silence much unlike that she had walked in on the way to the war councils room crashed down around her like a tidal wave. She looked around the room, her eye taking in every ones expressions. Azusa had the same calm observant expression she usually wore. Free sat on the edge of the table, arms crossed and brows furrowed. Spirits eyes were red rimmed as he leaned back in his chair, his hair a mess of fiery red tangles that clung to his face, his hands clenched resting on the table in front of him. Sid looked pale and dark circles ringed his eyes, his arms were crossed loosely over his chest. Marie took a deep breath and shut the door behind her bracing for the inevitable. She knew that none of them approved but the waves of disapproval that radiated from them were thick and made her heart raise up into her throat.

She crossed her arms and looked around at them again, the feeling of the expression she slid on was heavy. Anger, determination, and a challenge for them to even think of trying to talk her out of it. She knew that they and everyone else would cry for blood in exchange for the blood that had been shed. Hell even she wanted some one to pay for all the atrocities that had been committed. For all the sun bleached bones that lay scattered on the battle fields, impossible to retrieve because of roving bands of enemy soldiers. She wanted blood for all the children that would grow up with out one or both of their parents. For the children that had once had siblings or cousins but were now the last of their line. She wanted blood for all the people that had come back but werent as they were when they had left. For all the injuries both physical and mental. She wanted blood for the countless innocent people that were being held in the dungeons of the black city. Every ounce of her wanted to fight but she knew that the only way to end it all was not blood. Both sides had gone back and forth for far longer than any could remember and that the people of Donar were not infinite in number. With every day that passed humans, magi and aetherlings died in the pointless feud. It needed to stop. 

“So youre willing to just throw it all away then?” Spirits voice was thin when he spoke. She settled her gaze on him and rolled his words around in her mouth, the bitterness of them familiar like that of drunkards a favorite wine. 

“No. I'm not throwing anything away. In fact im trying to prevent anymore people from throwing their lives away for this pointless war. I'm trying to prevent you or your daughter from having to bury each other. I'm trying to prevent more children from losing their families like black star did. I'm trying to create a future for our people” Her voice was even and quiet as she spoke. 

“Youre such an idealist. You honestly think that these 'Talks' will result in anything ? I spent 10 years in their dungeons I think more than anyone I know exactly what they are capable of. If you think for one moment that they will honestly make good on any treaty youre a bigger fool than I took you for. If anything is to come of these talks itll be all of us in chains.” Free scoffed and looked at her with grim expression. He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh and shook his head. 

“If we dont try, if we keep hacking through them and throwing more of our people out to the fields then does that make us any better than them?” She bit the inside of her cheek. She knew that they were merely council and that they technically couldnt do anything to stop her unless the entirety of the capital agreed to remove her from her position but the likelihood of that was near zero. 

Spirit stood, the palms of his hands slamming onto the table. “What about Kami? What about Joe? Are you just going to throw their sacrifices away?” He yelled.   
Marie felt something in herself snap. “What? Like you threw away your marriage?” The words were cold as they slipped from her lips. when she saw the tears begin to pool at the corners of his eyes and he slid back into his chair she refused to look away and merely asked “Any other objections?” the question hung in the air and she heard the others shift but remain silent.


	7. fragmented memories or heated dreams?

His hands ran through her hair , fingers entangling themselves in golden locks as the warmth of her breath whispered along his skin. her lips grazed along the ragged lines if scars on his chest and he felt his heart jolt when they locked around one of them. fire pooled below his skin and electricity surged through his veins every where she brushed against him. her hands slid down his sides, fingers tracing the edge of his pants and he swallowed hard before taking a shuddering breath.

his hands slipped free cupping her face and bring it closer to his. his thumb brushed along her lips and she turned into his palm kissing it gently. "marie" he said, voice thin and wispy, before he swallowed again. she rolled her eye up to meet his, a deep blush painting her face and the tops of her ears. he leaned down , lips pressing gently onto the silvery tendrils of scar tissue over the depressed eyelid and slowly placed a trail of light kisses to her jawline and back to her lips as his hands slid to cup the pulse in her neck. he took a shuddering breath and deepened the kiss his heart rising to beat in time with her pulse in his throat and ears feeling as though it would shake his whole body if it beat any harder.

her fingers hooked into the edge of the tops of his pants tugging at the and he gripped her wrists rolling to straddle her. she made a small surprised noise , her eye widening and blush deepening as she looked up at him. her lips parted and he felt a smirk tug at the corner of his lips as he lifted her hands above her head. he leaned in , lips and nose bumping hers, as he ground himself against her thigh. she made an exasperated noise and bit her lip as she looked up at him. He smiled wider and leaned down, lips brushing along the line of her collar bone before locking around the fluttering skin over her pulse. He bit down gently and chuckled as she squirmed beneath him. A shrill beeping cut through the air and he blinked, his eyebrows furrowing. 

The beeping intensified and he felt his heart sink as his eyes opened to the sweltering heat of his apartment. He swatted at the alarm clock, sending it clattering to the floor, and groaned as he fought to sit. His chest felt tight, new scar tissue pulling in odd places. The night before he had lavished in the idea of returning to work, now with the fragments of a dream beginning to fade from his mind he wished he had taken the extra week they had offered him to recover. He grabbed at the pants that had been kicked off the moment he got back from physical therapy yesterday evening and dug out the crumpled pack of cigarettes, giving it a small shake. He frowned, he would have to stop on the way in or go with out for the night.


	8. Dont pick at it

The scar tissue across his chest and lower stomach resonated with a crawling sensation and he stifled the urge to scratch as he eyed the board that listed the prices for cigarettes. The cold can of soda was coated in a fine film of condensation. The company that normally made the menthol’s that he usually smoked had apparently stopped making them while he was in the hospital and he had yet to find a suitable replacement. Though he thought that his month and a half stint of being only on patches may have also had a hand in his sudden lack of stress relief and growing urge to rinse his mouth out every time he smoked. The hovering nurses, more like harpies, had refused to even allow him unsupervised walks for fear that he might sneak even a whiff of second hand. 

Behind the counter a dead eyed young man stared at him, the colors of his cloths loudly clashing. Stein guessed the boy was possibly color blind. Or was always forgetting to do laundry, the lazy attempt at gelling his hair back always made it seem like he had just rolled out of bed but then again that was the way a lot of the younger people looked. Especially the ones that attended his lectures. Stein sighed and shook his head. “Just give me a pack” he said sitting the can of soda on the counter and fishing out his wallet. “No preference today huh?” the kid said reaching for a pack beneath the counter and placing a pack next the can before ringing him up. Stein shrugged and handed him the cash. He pocketed the change and reached for the cigarettes stopping. “have you heard of liminal spaces?” stein asked leaning on the counter. The kid looked at him and arched a brow. “Never mind.” he said straitening and heading for the door. “if you're looking for an active threshold look for places where people pass through but don't stop. Or places completely abandoned.” stein stopped and turning back to the boy. “That's how we find them. Sometimes you feel a presence. Or hear a voice. Sometimes you can see stuff.” he said leaning against the counter. A small light flickering behind his previously dead eyes. “Best you don't pull at them, try make contact I mean. Just let it happen or you'll pull something bad through.” a smirk tugged at the boys lips and stein narrowed his eyes frowning shaking his head as he pushed through the door.


	9. Tick-

“I always knew you were a rebel but damn shooting for a goal this big. That's almost as big as I am.” he laughed.

“then you wont have a problem helping me with it. A big star like you, a professional assassin. This should be easy for you” she said rolling her eyes as she leaned back against the railing and looked out over the small city. Heat radiated up in waves, shifting languidly and roiling like the waves of the worlds laziest ocean. She had only seen the ocean once when she was younger, by that time their people had been at war with the Fiatis for countless years, though back then they weren't actively being hunted down. 

“You sure you want to do this? I mean-”

“Dammit, whats the good of hiding our powers and becoming aetherlings if we don't do anything” she spat out crossing her arms to keep from wildly gesturing. She had to keep calm. Being an aetherling was dangerous enough anywhere, if the wild magic tied to their emotions flared up it could potentially lead the fiatis right to their last strong hold. To become an aetherling you had to embrace the rash wild elemental magic that flowed through everything rather than study, calculate and invoke like the magi did. Rather than using words or a staff or a wand you guided the magic with pure emotion and intent and if you weren't focused enough, if your emotions were a whirl wind, if you gave over completely to the wild magic it would be the end of you. Hence why no one did it anymore. At least not on their side. The Fiatis had no problem risking their sanity or lives. 

“I didnt say no. I just wanted to make sure its what you wanted to do, and that you had an actual plan. Not that id mind just running in there and taking every last one of them down id just prefer to come out alive.” he said shrugging lazily. His steps were silent as he padded over to join her, his hands in his pocket. “Im with you all the way Maka, you know that.” his voice was low as he looked out over the city. 

Memories of hunting and foraging trips surfaced at the back of her mind. Nights spent beneath canopies of trees and starlight when they were younger. Days spent hiding and scrounging up scrap to be used around the settlement. Worst of all, all the others their age that had been lost on the battlefield or to traps that had been set by the Fiatis who thought it a sport to hunt their people down. Her fists clenched, nails biting into her hands. She was luckier than most she new that and certainly more so than black star. He had no memories of his parents, that all he had was the soldier, sid, who had sworn to his mother as she died to care for him and his father had been lost to the insanity that came with the wild magic. Where as she still had her papa and could still recall the smell of her mothers hair, the way sun shown in her hair, though she had long since forgotten the sound of her voice. Many had lost their entire family. The worst part was seeing when a parent was told their kid had been lost to the war, or kids that could barely walk being told their mom or dad wouldn't be coming back. ever. 

“Then we move out tonight. Bring only what we need.” she said looking at him. She could tell he was trying his best to control his emotions, his face was set in a determined expression, but the light shining behind his eyes gave him away. He looked at her for a moment and nodded.


End file.
